India holds upper hand against Italy in World Cup

India finished third in the Pool B with two points -- behind top-ranked Ireland (six points) and second-placed England (five) and ahead of the United States (2) with two draws and a loss. India finished third on superior goal difference. 

On Sunday, world No.10 India had to earn at least a draw against world No.7 US and the two teams played a 1-1 draw, with captain Rani Rampal hitting the target at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. 

World No.17 Italy, which finished second in Pool A, will look to make a strong comeback after its morale-shattering 1-12 defeat against world No.1 the Netherlands in its final pool game. The Dutch produced a stunning win to set a new record in terms of the biggest ever victory at a Women’s World Cup. However, in its first two games, Italy showed that it can battle hard, having defeated world No.8 China (30) and No.9 South Korea (1-0). 

Rani feels India must take Italy as a serious contender and draw inspiration from its victory at the 2015 Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-final tournament where it beat the European outfit via penalty shootout. 

“Italy is a good team. But we need to go into the match with the self-belief that we can beat them and we must draw inspiration from that tournament where we beat them in a thrilling shootout,” Rani asserted.